A quaint small town in eastern Arkansas, Helena is rich in both history and landscape. Well-known for its rich history of Delta Blues Music and Civil War history, the Helena Advertising & Promotion Commission enlisted Sundaram to help them build and market an online presence that accurately reflected the welcoming atmosphere and Southern charm on which their city has built their reputation. The Helena Advertising & Promotion Commission originally had multiple web properties dedicated to different aspects of the tourism industry, with little cohesion and calls to action. Civil War enthusiasts, Delta Blues aficionados and outdoor buffs could find parts of the region that they would be interested in exploring, but with no central website pulling these areas of interest together, Helena was missing out on valuable opportunities to cross market to potential visitors. Likewise, potential tourists weren't able to easily explore everything that this beautiful region had to offer.

The Solution

Working with the Helena A&P commission, Sundaram helped identify the specific audiences that were unique to the tourism industry in and around Helena, Arkansas. Matching those audiences with relevant interests and activities provided the groundwork for Sundaram to develop a stunning, intuitive website presence for the city. We determined the types of and lengths of vacations and visits that tourists enjoyed, and designed an online experience that allowed potential vacationers to self-select travel Itineraries and activities of specific interest to them. Once the new website was live, Sundaram's digital marketing team went to work creating a paid search campaign to drive visitors to their new digital home.

Sundaram had to create persuasive ad copy to grab the attention of searchers that weren't necessarily seeking information about Helena, but would-be potential visitors. Based on budget, Sundaram decided to focus on geographic areas that would have the highest probability of leading to a conversion. Surrounding states and nearby cities within driving distance were targeted more aggressively, as people from those areas where most likely to make the trip for a short stay. We targeted people seeking out information on the city and its well known attractions and festivals, as well as general tourist information. A second approach targeted those who had expressed an interest in traveling to or through Arkansas. Beyond the initial strategy and ongoing campaign management, Sundaram also delivered monthly reports and insights on successes and new opportunities.

The Results

Today, visitors to the Helena, Arkansas region can use VisitHelenaAR.com as a one-stop resource for a full array of activities and interests. Travel itineraries, a full calendar of events, and the rich history of Helena are all presented in a format that is easy to navigate, yet is deep in content. A sophisticated website framework developed in Drupal was designed to handle a robust number of website content managers, allowing the website to be updated and maintained easily and affordably. Plus, Sundaram's pay per click efforts drove considerable new user traffic and conversions.